This paper reviews the history of Canadian immigration policies and documents that the present policies impose on Canadians a fiscal burden of $20 billion annually. The existence of this burden is attributed to flaws in the current immigrant selection process, some of which are addressed through recent changes in policies adopted by the government.

The annual cost of raising a child is important information-for its own sake and also for public policy purposes. Such estimates can be helpful to parents or prospective parents. It can also inform policies related to child benefits and possible parental child support obligations. This paper reviews prevailing approaches to the measurement of child costs and proposes budget based alternatives. The paper argues that there is no methodology or formula that can determine how much parents need to spend to raise children or, even, how much they actually do spend. What we do know is that parents at all income levels have successfully raised children. The objective of this paper is to find, at least, a base level of annual child costs that would need to be covered for the healthy development of the child.

Fraser Forum is a monthly review of public policy in Canada, with articles covering taxation, education, health care policy, and a wide range of other topics. Forum writers are economists, Institute research analysts, and selected authors, including those from other public policy think tanks.